Intentions to Marry, 1890

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840402, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 23 2025

Page 505

District of Wanganui Quarter ending 30 June 1890

No	Date of Notice	Names and Surnames of Parties	BDM Match	Condition	Calling or Profession	Age	Dwelling Place	Length of Residence	Marriage Place	Folio	Consent	Date of Certificate	Officiating Minister
10	2 April 1890	Robert Gray McIver Isabella Dallas	Robert Gray McNiven Isabella Dallas 💍 1890/1144	Bachelor Spinster	Draper	22 23	Wanganui Wanganui	22 yrs 15 yrs	In the residence of Mr. Dallas	90/764		2 April 1890	James Treadwell, Presbyterian
11	2 April 1890	Edward John Chapman Almora Charlotte Jackson	Edward John Chapman Almond Charlotte Jackson 💍 1890/1142	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 21	Fordell Upokongaro	18 yrs 6 mos	In the Church of England, Matarawa	90/1105		2 April 1890	P. L. Cameron, Church of England
12	2 April 1890	William Tollard Charlotte Williams	William Gollard Charlotte Williams 💍 1890/1137 William Taylor Amelia Williams 💍 1890/2881 William Woodward Rose Ellen Williams 💍 1890/808	Bachelor Spinster	Railway porter	21 19	Aramoho Wanganui	21 yrs 2 mos	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	90/1105		9 April 1890	G. W. Wood, Registrar
13	10 April 1890	Charles Gibbard Ellen Parnell	Charles Gibbard Ellen Parnell 💍 1890/1143	Bachelor Spinster	Laborer	26 20	Springvale Springvale	5 wks 6 wks	In the Church of England, W. Parnell	90/1105		10 April 1890	J. W. Chapman, Church of England
14	28 April 1890	Thomas Mumphy Elizabeth Mary Judge	Thomas Murphy Elizabeth Mary Judge 💍 1890/3803	Bachelor Widow	Laborer	62 58	Brunswick Wanganui	10 yrs 20 yrs	In the Roman Catholic Church, Wanganui	90/1164		28 April 1890	Chas. H. Kirk, Roman Catholic
15	29 April 1890	John Herring Cruickshank Florence Elizabeth Sandilands	John Herring Cruikshank Florence Elizabeth Sandilands 💍 1890/2724	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	24 23	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 14 days	In the Church of England, Wanganui	90/2755		29 April 1890	T. H. Tudor, Church of England
16	30 April 1890	John Watt Lindsay Mary Dow	John Watt Lindsay Mary Dow 💍 1890/1138	Bachelor Widow	Farmer	48 49	Fordell Fordell	22 yrs 12 mos	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Wanganui	90/1176		30 April 1890	G. W. Wood, Registrar
17	5 May 1890	George Robert Palmer Annie Sarjeant	George Robert Palmer Annie Sarjeant 💍 1890/1147	Bachelor Spinster	Baker	22 23	Wanganui Wanganui	16 yrs 4 yrs	In the residence of Mr. J. R. Palmer	90/1170		5 May 1890	H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan
18	6 May 1890	George Butler Bertha Krysel	George Butler Bertha Kryzer 💍 1890/1145	Bachelor Spinster	Bricklayer	22 18	Wanganui Wanganui	6 mos 14 yrs	In the residence of Mr. Edward [illegible]	90/1160		6 May 1890	James Treadwell, Presbyterian
19	7 May 1890	John Davis Collard Florence Waikato Benefield	John Davis Collard Florence Waikato Berefield 💍 1890/1126	Widower Spinster	Station Master	50 15	Aramoho Aramoho	14 yrs 5 yrs	In the residence of W. T. Benefield	90/1171	W. T. Benefield, father of bride	7 May 1890	H. R. Dewsbury, Wesleyan
20	7 May 1890	Charles Alfred Silcock Sarah Craig	Charles Alfred Silevek Sarah Craig 💍 1890/1146	Bachelor Spinster	Farmer	23 20	Matarawa St. John's Hill	10 yrs 12 mos	In the residence of W. Craig	90/1172	W. Craig, father of bride	7 May 1890	James Treadwell, Presbyterian
21	8 May 1890	James Cattell Eleanor Rivers	James Cattell Eleanor Rivers 💍 1890/1125	Widower Spinster	Hotel keeper	57 37	Wanganui Wanganui	5 yrs 3 days	In the Matarawa Church	90/1160		8 May 1890	J. W. Chapman, Church of England
22	14 May 1890	Edward Took Ellen Frost	Edward Cook Ellen Frost 💍 1890/1148	Widower Widow	Laborer	42 42	Wanganui Wanganui	3 days 16 yrs	In Mr. Thomas Cole's house	90/1174		14 May 1890	James Treadwell, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1894. More registers will be added as the project continues.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).